Posts Tagged ‘brand’

Brands are made up of multiple components – your product or service; your logos, advertising campaigns, public relations and sponsorships; the behaviors of your employees and your customers’ interactions with them; the personalities of the top executives and/or owners, etc. As we’ve said many times before, it’s ultimately the market that truly defines your brand, and they do so by absorbing all of the elements we just mentioned into an overall image in their mind of who your company is and what it stands for. (more…)

Most businesspeople and students of marketing would probably agree with the statement that your brand is important. Yet, despite this importance, the concept of a brand isn’t always easy to grasp. Part of that problem is because a brand is made of so many components that it needs to be considered very broadly.

In an article for Forbes titled “Your Brand Isn’t What You Think It Is,” author Ty Kiisel points out that most people don’t truly understand what a brand is. Kiisel writes: “I think most people would agree (although there are still some holdouts), your brand is not your logo or your colors. Of course the colors you choose and the way you present your name to the world is considered part of your brand, but it’s not the most important part. Your brand isn’t what you say you are either.” This is true … but what is your brand? (more…)

Social media is a powerful marketing tool for any business. Business and marketing professionals are particularly drawn to the extensive reach of social media and its potential for driving droves of new customers through their virtual doors. However—and this may surprise you—social media marketers shouldn’t be focused exclusively on bringing in new business.

A recent article on the American Marketing Association (AMA) website by Lawrence Crosby looked at the effectiveness of social media marketing on another important measure of marketing success— (more…)

How do you get so big, and so powerful, that you can tell other big and powerful organizations what they can and can’t say—and prohibit them from using very commonly used words and phrases? The Olympic Committee’s ban on non-sponsor brands ostensibly does just that as ESPN recently reported. They’re even banning non-sponsors from using the hashtags #Rio2016 and #TeamUSA. (Sheesh; hope I don’t get in trouble for that—I’m not an official sponsor, after all.) Those aren’t the only usages that are being banned though. According to a Mashable article, other banned words include “Rio” and “Rio de Janeiro.” Huh? (more…)

As someone who grew up in a family-owned business and then worked in the field of PR/corporate communications for a number of years I’ve long been well aware of how my actions, or inaction, impact not only my reputation, but the reputation of the organizations I serve. From the day long ago when my father chastised me for not returning a greeting from a classmate we ran into at a local department store to early training as a PR/media relations rep I’ve known that what I did — on or off the job — made an impression. While that knowledge, especially as a child, was sometimes burdensome, in hindsight it has served me well.

The Super Bowl is behind us, but buzz about the brands that bought space to reach the masses during this much-watched event is still buzzing. It’s buzz that can benefit businesses–of any size–that are looking for ways to boost awareness and break through an increasingly cluttered media environment. Small businesses, in particular, can learn from the best of the best (and worst of the worst…). For example: (more…)

We’re a week into the New Year and, by now, you’ve likely started–or at least considered starting–to work on your New Year’s resolutions. How are you doing so far? Have you started the diet you planned on sticking to? Are you getting out of the old habits you were stuck in? Did you begin something new? From a business standpoint are you making progress on any resolutions that will lead to your desired level of success in 2013?

If not, you must know it’s never to late to start something new! And we have a suggestion for you. (more…)

I was interviewed recently for a blog on the use of perks to drive social media engagement. It’s an interesting topic and judging from the proliferation of such contests and competitions online an important one. Aside from questions related to the efficacy of such competitions, businesses should also be aware of–and knowledgeable about–the impact of these perks on their desired brand image and the laws related to contests, sweepstakes and lotteries.

While doing some online research recently I came across an article on branding that I wrote back in 1997! Clearly it’s a topic that I’ve been interested in for some time. Two things struck me about coming across this piece:

1) Wow! The Internet was still in its infancy in the late 90’s, yet content from “way back then” is online.

Sales are stagnant. New customers are few and far between. Competitors are nipping at your heel. What to do? Must be time to change your name, right? Not so fast.

I’ve worked with numerous companies on name changes or the consideration of a name change for their entire organization or various products and services both as an internal director of corporate communications for an energy utility and healthcare organization and, now, as an independent consultant. There have been some surprisingly contentious discussions and (more…)

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